Three New Programs Focus on U.S. Iraq Policy

Flying Focus recently produced
three programs with distinct approaches to the current U.S. policy in Iraq, perfect educational tools
as the threat of a full-scale invasion hangs in the air.

The first, "Back to Iraq: State of the Sanctions
2002," (VB # 45.1) features video of a delegation from Voices in the Wilderness (VitW)
delivering medicine and toys to hospitals, families and children. Along with 10 minutes of
introductory comments by FFVC and VitW member Dan Handelman, the 18-minute video of Iraq
includes interviews with Iraqi doctors and citizens, images from within Iraqi hospitals, tours of
water and sewage treatment plants, and two civilian sites bombed during the 1991 "Gulf
War."

A second, "Oregonians Speak Out for Peace," (VB
#45.4&5) features interviews, speakers, and images from the October 5, 2002 "Rally and
March for Peace," at which 10,000 people marched through Portland. It shows a variety of
participants, and even a few onlookers, who had plenty to say about the U.S.' threatening war on
Iraq.

The most recent program is a workshop by Goudarz
Eghdetari, who spoke about "Iran and Iraq's Other Neighbors: US Foreign
Policy" (VB #46.7) at a teach-in last December. Eghdetari, an educator and Iranian-American
activist, outlines the interests of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the stateless Kurdish people, among
others, and how those factors are influencing America's approach to Iraq.

Flying Focus has a fairly extensive variety of programs
on Iraq dating back to 1991. See our full catalog or our website
(

http://www.rdrop.com/~ffvc) for more info. We hope
that disseminating this information will help the movement to stop the looming attack.

Julia Butterfly Hill Encourages Action
for the Planet

"Julia Butterfly Hill:
Stewardship of the Earth" (VB #46.1) features the energetic and
free-spirited activist who climbed into a redwood tree and stayed there for two years, as she
encourages us all to become "leaders" for a better world. Speaking at an outdoor festival in
southern California in late September, Hill connects the destruction of the planet to consumption of
resources, militarism, and American consumer lifestyles.

Video Bus Hosts Amnesty Show on
Guatemala

In January, Flying Focus Video Bus
featured a showing of a video documenting the lasting effects of another war supported by
American tax dollars. "Digging For the Truth," produced by Amnesty International, tells
the story of Denese Becker, formerly known as Dominga Sic Ruz, who was orphaned in the
violence that took the lives of 200,000 Guatemalans in thirty years of civil war.

Her parents and hundreds of others were killed by the Guatemalan
military and paramilitary forces in her community. She was given up for adoption and was adopted
in the United States. The video shows her return to Guatemala, her encounters with surviving
members of her extended family, and portrays the efforts of activists to ensure that the victims are
remembered, and that truth and justice are served. This video is not available through the Flying
Focus catalog. Call Amnesty International Group 48 at 503-227-1878 for more information.

Order Flying Focus Audio
Tapes

You don't have to have cable TV to stay informed; that's why Flying Focus makes video tapes
available by order. Let's say you've seen titles you'd like to learn more about. You may also be
short on time to watch a video. Maybe talks on audiotape fit your schedule better. Similar to books
on tape, talks on tapes would bring you the audio portion of speakers you've known of and been
inspired by...like Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, Howard Zinn, Julia Butterfly Hill and many
others. Review our catalog titles and contact us with your request.

Audio tapes are available for $2 less than suggested donation for videos ($7 for 1/2 hour, $10 for 1
hour, $13 for over 1 hour).

Economic (In) Justices

Three new programs focus on
economic issues, moving from the global to the local.

Activists from Africa and the Jubilee USA Network gathered in Portland
to discuss the debt that has been imposed on Southern countries by Northern countries through the
World Bank and the IMF. They expose the debt as illegitimate, causing great hardship to people in
the South and encourage that it should be canceled in the "Break Free from Debt: A Dialogue
between Jubilee North and South," VB #44.5.

In "Children as Economic Commodities" (VB # 44.8&9),
Marilyn Sewell of the First Unitarian Church in Portland, spoke in the second lecture of a series
presented by the YMCA's Child Care, "Strong Kids, Strong Families and Strong Communities."
She focused on the great harm done to children by viewing them as target markets rather than
human beings, and the urgent need for a redefinition of values if children are to thrive and become
responsible adults.

The third program, "The History of the
Sustainability Movement in Portland (if there is one)" (VB #45.12) is the first of a proposed
series on sustainability. In this program, Eric Malin, co-founder of Portland's Institute for
Sustainable Culture, spoke at a Red Rose class about the history of the movement in Portland in
the '90's and questions whether there was an actual movement if people were working as
individuals to use less of the world's resources, without acting as part of an organized group.

Eleventh Busiversary Rolls Around

Our producers gathered at a
pot-luck to videotape introductions for this year's annual retrospective show, the "Eleventh
Busiversary" (VB #45.8&9) marking 11 years since our weekly half-hour program
premiered in 1991.This show features most of the 9 program producers / videographers and the
work of a dozen or so other volunteers who helped make our 2001-2002 season one of the most
varied in memory. From shows featuring footage inside Cuba and the border of Sierra Leone to
analysis and activism following September 11, to local and global economic and environmental
issues and children's concerns, you will see clips from 17 programs and get a sense of what we're
doing to educate people on issues of social change.

September 11 Victim's Family Member
Speaks for Peace

Kelly Campbell, a co-founding
member of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, gave a talk in
June, 2002 in Portland. She recounted her experiences hearing about the
death of her brother-in-law at the Pentagon and how that eventually led her to a peace journey to
Afghanistan. Peaceful Tomorrows is made up of family members of victims of the September 11
suicide hijackings in New York, Pennsylvania and DC who are promoting peace as a solution
(check out their website at

Campbell relates, with slides, the stories of the Afghan families she met,
and what can be done to help the innocent victims of U.S. bombing in Afghanistan as a way to
honor those who died here in America. This one-hour program will tear at your heartstrings and
inspire you to action ("Kelly Campbell: September 11 Families for Peace," VB
#44.10&11).

Late Night Reruns Begin

We know that not everyone can watch our weekly show when it plays back in prime time Mondays
and Fridays (8 PM Ch 22 and 9:30 PM Ch. 11 respectively) or even opposite the news at 11 PM
(Wednesdays, Ch 23). So we've decided to re-play some of our "Speakers and Events" programs
at various times of the day---and night--to provide more opportunities to get educated.
"Howard Zinn:1492-1992, Reclaiming the People's History" (SE #10), will show at the
following times: